Page 51 of The Bratva's Arranged Bride

We were married, and whatever he did affected us both.

“Yes, Val…I need to know.”

At that, he nodded stiffly, then gestured for me to sit.

As much as I didn’t want to be around him at that moment, I sat, making sure to put a healthy distance between us.

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Val exhaled, visibly still struggling with what he was about to reveal to me.

“The truth is, what my family does is…above the law, you could say. Our business operates outside of it…”

Even if I had the feeling that what Tommaso implied went deeper than he let on, hearing that confirmation made it all hurt worse.

I could feel my heart nearly stopping as I put the rest of the pieces together.

Their wealth. The vague hints at what his work entailed. The drivers and guards…the arranged marriage serving as a business deal.

It was a lot darker than I wanted to consider, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say.

“You’re a criminal?”

The words sounded more scathing than I intended them to, but it wasn’t undeserved, either.

Val’s expression fell at that, but unable to deny it, he sighed and nodded. “Yes…We deal in organized crime. That’s the basis of everything we do.”

My pulse quickened and my stomach turned at the idea.

My husband…I assumed was a businessman just like my dad. He was no better than a common criminal—if anything, he was worse.

I could feel the truth wrapping around my throat, barely able to get the words out. “Do you…traffic people?”

“Christ, no,” Val said immediately, not letting me think about it for even a moment. “Guns, drugs, and other items, yes. But never people. We have morals.”

While it was a slight relief, it still wasn’t enough to put me at ease.

“And what about this place?”

“It’s legitimate…which is why I partnered with your dad. But it’s also a cover—a front,” Val said, continuing with more than his fair share of reluctance. “When we make too much money under the table, we use places like this to ‘make it clean’…it’s a necessary part.”

“I know what money laundering is,” I snapped, feeling more irritated the more he shared with me. “I just can’t believe you hid this from me.”

Val rubbed a hand over his face, clearly not prepared for the conversation we were forced into. “I didn’t want you to know about all of this—at least not until I knew you’d be more open to it. I didn’t want to drag you into it.”

My brows furrowed at that, and I could feel myself physically pulling away from him.

“It’s a little late for that, no?” I countered, aware of my pulse pounding in my ears. “How could you drag my dad into this, too?”

The moment his eyes softened slightly, the knot in my stomach tightened further.

“Tia…I didn’t hide any of this from your dad. He’s well aware of what my family does,” he admitted with more remorse in his voice than I expected. He couldn’t look at me. “He knows what this place is, and he willingly took it on. This isn’t the first time, either.”

Everything around me went impossibly still, almost like the whole world stopped from those words alone.

I could only stare at him in disbelief, feeling like a knife had just gone through my heart. “…What?”

Val sighed. “Did you really think your dad got as rich as he is just from starting a few businesses?”

In all honesty, I did.

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